Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun
by Ionia Metallium-Greywers
Summary: This was my first attempt at a FPV fic...I'd say that it came out fairly well. (((_^ Part 3 is working again, so read on, loyal...readers...(((_^;; I promise part 6 will come soon! R & R!!!
1. Default Chapter

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 1  
  
Notes: Ok, this is my first time writing a first-person POV fic, so go easy on me, k? And there are several references in this part(and probably all parts)that apply to my real life, and those will be marked by this: [] and explained at the end of each part. -- Ionia Metallium-Greywers  
  
I know. I'm not usually one to complain, but this is an exception. I'm complaining.  
  
Heero managed to enroll us into a fairly decent school with fairly decent rooms. The rooms are bigger than the last ones, anyway. The thing is, Heero was tired of putting up with Duo's constant talking and mouthing off. So instead of what we usually do, which is Duo and Heero sharing a room, Trowa and I sharing a room, and Wu Fei having a room to himself, Heero has placed Duo and I in a room, and Trowa shares one with Heero now. Funny. When Trowa and I shared a room, it used to be so quiet and I would always be the one to strike up a conversation. Now that Duo is sharing with me, I get no quiet whatsoever. I miss the silence, but I dare not go to Heero and Trowa's room for it. Too much silence begins to affect me after awhile. I imagine it would affect Duo almost immediately.  
  
"Oi, Quatre! Look out!" a familiar voice yelled. I snapped back to reality as a bottle cap shot by my head, nearly embedding itself in the wall behind me. I looked towards the bathroom. Duo had been taking a shower, and he was standing in the doorway to the bathroom. He grinned. "Gomen, Quatre." He had a tiny towel wrapped around his waist. It looked like one of those towels in a hotel room. Maybe a raid of an unlocked hotel room had supplied him with it. He grabbed at it before it had a chance to fall. Arigato, Duo.   
  
A tube of bright green shampoo was lying on the floor. The neon-colored gel oozed out of the tube and seeped into the carpet. Ouch. That's going to be hard to get out. The area of aqua green carpet around the tube was now a sickening shade of brown. Sometimes I wonder where Duo comes up with all his stuff. I imagine that the item in question had been liberated from a store somewhere a while back. The tube was nearly empty.  
  
Duo sat on his bed and began to towel his hair dry. I picked up a dog-eared manga from the floor. I tried to remember the kanji Trowa had taught me. I could hear Duo pulling open drawers and putting on his normal clothes.  
  
"Oi, Quatre?"  
  
"Aa?"  
  
"I'm going for a walk and some food. Wanna come with?"  
  
"Sure." I set the manga down and grabbed my coat. "I just have to tell Trowa where we're going."  
  
We walked down the hall towards the elevator. Heero and Trowa's room was on the floor above us. Wu Fei's was on the floor below us. We got in the elevator and I pushed the button for the 3rd floor. Soon, the doors opened and we walked out and towards Heero and Trowa's room.  
  
Duo knocked on the door. "Oi, Heero! It's me! Open up!" Soon, the door opened. The small room was illuminated with blue light. I peered around Heero's head. The small laptop was on. Great.  
  
"What do you want?" Heero asked, his face stoic and emotionless.  
  
"Is Trowa here?" I asked him hopefully.  
  
"Gomen, Quatre, but he left a few minutes ago. You just missed him. Are you going somewhere?"  
  
"We're going out for some food. Wanna come, Heero?" Duo interjected.  
  
"Nah. I have work to do. Trowa should be back in about a half-hour, though."  
  
I must have looked disappointed, because Heero said something he probably wouldn't have under normal circumstances.  
  
"Don't worry, Quatre. I'll tell him where you're going when he returns." Now here's the weird part. "Promise."  
  
Minutes later I found myself walking down the dark streets toward the shopping center. I assumed we were going to one of those late-night Chinese cafés. We passed by a theater that had a neon sign promoting it's newest feature. The sign said I Was A Teenage Appetizer From Planet Sushi.[1] Duo snickered at the title.  
  
"Planet Sushi?" he laughed hysterically. "Sounds like what we're gonna eat!"  
  
I nearly retched. "Duo, you know I can't stand sushi..." [2]  
  
"Oh yeah, that's right. Gomen, Quatre." We walked towards the shopping center.  
  
*****  
  
"I'll have a bowl of ramen noodles, a teriyaki burger, a small bowl of rice, some potstickers, a small plate of sushi, and a large mug of tea, please!" Duo said, grinning. The waitress looked at him like he had just proclaimed the sky was bright pink. She jotted something down on the paper and looked at me, expecting the same. I just looked at her, feeling very sorry for her.  
  
"I'll just have a mug of tea and a small bowl of rice, please." She jotted down my order on the paper and walked off towards the kitchen. I glanced at Duo. "You better not expect me to pay for all that."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll pay for it." Now -that- was a rarity. Duo, ordering all that food, and I'm there to pay for it all, and he decides to pay for it? Wow.   
  
"Are you sick or something, Duo?"  
  
"Nah, I'm ok." He leaned back into his chair. A little too far back. He fell backwards and hit a potted plant, nearly toppling the thing. I laughed hard, tears coming to my eyes.  
  
A hand touched my shoulder. In an instant, I was out of my chair, turned in the complete opposite direction, and had a knife hand to the neck of the hand's owner. Behind me, I heard Duo snicker. I looked up, only to gaze into deep, forest green eyes.  
  
"Trowa!" I sounded like a schoolgirl who had just found her secret crush in a crowd of millions...well, all except for the schoolgirl part.  
  
So, this is where you went," he said calmly. "Heero said you had gone out somewhere."  
  
"Trowa, I'm sorry...I nearly knocked you out..." I looked down.  
  
"Don't worry. It's a good reaction. It'll keep you alive." He took a seat in the chair next to mine. I sat down as well, and so did Duo, as soon as he retrieved his chair from the floor.  
  
The waitress came back, holding 2 trays of food. Another came behind her, with a tray containing a small bowl of rice and two mugs of tea. The two set everything down on the table. The original waitress looked towards Trowa. "Oh, gomen nasai, otoko-san. I didn't see you here before."  
  
"That's cause he just got here..." Duo muttered.  
  
"Would you like anything, otoko-san?" She pulled out her pad of paper.  
  
"I'll just have a mug of tea, please." Duo sank low in his chair, to where only his eyes and the top of his head showed over the table.  
  
"No wonder Trowa stays so skinny..."  
  
*****  
  
On our way back to the school, we began talking about relationships. What brought that topic up, I have no idea, but Duo just began talking about how he missed Heero. Trowa really didn't want to be involved in any part of it, but Duo dragged him in anyway.  
  
"Hey, Trowa. You miss Quatre?"  
  
I could see a tiny bit of a blush under that hair of his. "Well, maybe, but..."  
  
"C'mon! Spill!" Duo is very good at brown-nosing. It should become his hobby.  
  
"Jitsu wa...it -was- a whole lot friendlier when we shared a room...not as quiet..."  
  
"Just as I thought!" Duo proclaimed. But before he could get out another word, something grabbed him and pulled him into a bush that he was standing next to.  
  
"Duo!" I ran towards the bush, but nothing was there. Typical. "Trowa, Duo's gone!" But I turned around, and Trowa was gone too.  
  
"Trowa!!!!!!!!!"  
  
*****  
  
I sat up in my bed, gasping for air. Was it just a dream? Were Duo and Trowa still here? I got up out of my bed, and walked towards Duo's bed. I saw a lump under the sheets, and a long, messy chestnut braid. Yeah, it was Duo. Just to make sure, I poked his back.  
  
"Uhn..." the long-haired boy groaned. "I dun wanna go to school, mommy..." He then returned to snoring. I giggled.  
  
"Duo no baka..." I whispered. I walked back to my bed and flopped onto it. What a strange dream. I wonder what it meant. I looked at the clock. Only 12:15? We had come back from the Chinese place about an hour ago. I sighed. It's so hard to go back to sleep once you've woken up. I crawled out of bed once again and walked to my dresser. If I was going to go out for a walk, I might as well wear normal clothes, and not my pajamas, which had tiny camels dotting a landscape of sand dunes.[3] My favorites. I changed into one of my less formal outfits. Basically, just some jeans I borrowed from Duo and a t-shirt he had bought me that says "I'm short, blond, and rich. Gotta love me." I walked out of the dorm and into the hall.  
  
The hall was almost completely dark, for the exception of some rooms that had light seeping under the door. I walked down the hallway towards the T-shaped intersection at the end. This was completely black. No light at all. Not exactly the most cheery place to be, and it didn't look all too safe for a boy like myself. Nonetheless, I walked into the void, for it was the only way to get down to the mini-café downstairs.  
  
I turned the corner and ran into someone. Just a little taller than me. The person's body was warm, and I could feel long sleeves of a sweatshirt. It was definentaly a guy, because his chest was flat, for the exception of muscles.  
  
I heard him pull something from his pocket. Oh dear, was he going to kill me? I could picture someone ripping my lungs from my body, then leaving my body to rot in the middle of the floor.   
  
I heard something rubbing against a hard surface. Run, run, my conscious told me. But my feet were cemented to the floor. I couldn't run, couldn't breathe, couldn't scream. I felt defenseless. Prayers began racing through my mind. My mouth felt as if it were filled with cotton balls. I nearly fainted.  
  
Suddenly, a flicker of light burst from nowhere as a flame appeared on top of a lighter. It lit up a face, half covered in hair. The flames danced in forest green eyes.  
  
"Quatre? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Trowa! It's just you!" I unconsciously hugged him. The scent of cherries invaded my senses, and I was only aware of that. The scent of cherries. Suddenly, I realized what I was doing. I let go, the cute, pink blush that Duo liked to make fun of coming to my face.   
  
"It's alright, Quatre. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Gomen nasai."  
  
I sniffled a bit. I hadn't even realized I was crying. "No, gomen nasai, Trowa. I got your shirt wet."  
  
He laughed. In my whole life, I have never heard anything like it. It sounded like the tinkling of Christmas bells. I began laughing as well, and the entire hallway was filled with the sound of our laughter.   
  
"You never answered my question, Quatre," he said when we were done laughing. "What are you doing out here?"  
  
"I was going down to the café." I looked up. "You want to come too?"  
  
"Sure. Might as well. I can't sleep at all."  
  
"Neither could I!" With that, we began to walk down the hallway towards the elevator.  
  
  
  
[1] Ok, I'm sorry, but I was typing this at the same time my little brother was watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy, and I just so happened to hear one of them say something referring to this.  
  
[2] This one refers to me, in particular. I can't stand sushi, and I don't know how anyone can. Raw fish and caviar? Yuck. But my friend says that in Colorado there's a place called Tokyo Joe's and they cook their fish before putting it in sushi. Maybe it's good. I dunno.  
  
[3] I have pajamas like these...somewhere. They're very comfortable and made out of some soft, fuzzy, wool-like material. And it's not itchy! ^^  
  
  
  



	2. Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun Part 2

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 2  
  
Note: Ionia had one too many Mountain Dews before writing this part...it was only one, but still...and last night's sugar high still lingers...(((_^  
  
Warning: Severe Furby bashing, intense consuming of large amounts of M&Ms.  
  
The next day, I woke up to sunny skies and birds singing. And Duo complaining. Yes, I had actually gotten back to sleep last night. The latté must have helped some.  
  
"Man, I feel like a well-walked road," Duo moaned. I looked at him.  
  
"You know, it might help if you didn't sleep on a bed of rocks."  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Your mattress is as hard as a slate table." I poked it, and it didn't sink in one bit.  
  
"Well, you don't exactly sleep on a bed of roses yourself," he retorted. And he was right, too. The mattresses the school had supplied were very hard.   
  
Something moaned behind me. I turned and looked, and a small, orange and blue Furby was sitting on my desk. I looked at Duo. "What is this thing doing here?"  
  
Duo grinned. "I borrowed it from Toys R Us." He picked up the fuzzy creature. "His name's Bob!"  
  
"Bob?!" From what I heard, Furbies had their own names. But Bob...? "Why did you steal it?"  
  
"So I could kill it." I saw that gleam in his eyes. Oh God.  
  
"Duo...calm down...please!" It was too late, though. My efforts were wasted. Duo had already thrown the Gremlin-esque creature across the room.  
  
"Whee," said the Furby.  
  
"Watch this!"  
  
"No Duo! Don't!" Crash. Thud. The Furby was now lying upside down, on it's head, on the floor. It was emitting a high-pitched noise that wouldn't stop. [1] I turned to Duo, holding my ears. He was doing the same. "Get it out of here!"  
  
"What?"   
  
I just motioned to the window. He got the idea and threw the Furby out the window, falling 2 stories to it's death, or more accurately, destruction.   
  
"Thank God that's over." Duo sat on his bed. I glanced towards the calendar.  
  
"Tomorrow's the last day of school," I sighed. We had only arrived here a month ago, but I was glad it was over. School never was, and never will be my cup of tea. [2]  
  
"Heero said we're going on vacation the day after." Duo grinned. "We're going camping. For a whole week!"  
  
Oh God. A whole week? In the wilderness? Stuck with Duo? I'm the only one who can really tolerate his personality, but sometimes even I get tired of it. I decided to make him happy. "Sounds like fun."  
  
"Yeah! And Hee-kun said that I was going to share a tent with you!" Oh goodie. I'm so excited.   
  
"Yeah. Lots of fun."  
  
*****  
  
A few days later I found myself sitting in the back seat of a van, next to Wu Fei. Wu Fei was sleeping, and I was reading. Duo sat in the middle seat because no one dared to sit next to him. Heero was driving and Trowa was telling him which way to go.  
  
I was reading a very intriguing novel called Kuchibue ga Kikoeru.[3] It was about a young man with the power of a great black dragon who was on a journey to rescue his beautiful sister from the evil clutches of a demon king. Duo got it for me for my birthday. He's really into medieval stuff, I guess.  
  
"Hey! It's a monster!" Duo shouted from the seat ahead of me. I looked out the window, but all I could see was a deer.  
  
"Duo, that's a deer. Not a monster," I replied. Trowa snickered from the driver's seat.  
  
"You don't get out much, do you Duo?" Trowa asked. Duo just gave him a cold look.  
  
"Omae o Korusu..." he muttered. Heero looked confused.  
  
"Hey, that's my line..."  
  
*****  
  
About 2 hours later, we finally arrived at the forest we were going to camp in. It was in the eastern outskirts of Tokyo, and we lived in the western outskirts. Heero drove a little ways into the forest before coming to a clearing with a well-used fire pit. He parked the van, and Duo jumped out.   
  
"Alright alright alright!" he yelled. Wow. He's excited.  
  
"Calm down, Duo," Heero said from the driver's side of the van. "It's a clearing. So what? We hide our Gundams in clearings so often you shouldn't be surprised to see one."  
  
"You're right. I shouldn't be surprised to see it, should I, Hee-kun?"  
  
"Please don't call me that, Duo."   
  
"Ok, Hee-kun!" Heero sighed. Duo hopped to the back of the van (and I mean literally hopping to the van)and began pulling stuff out of the trunk, just dumping everything that wasn't his on the ground.  
  
"You're so considerate of other's possessions, Duo," Trowa said as he climbed out of the van. Duo pulled some more bags and rolled-up tents out.  
  
"Hey! My M&Ms!" He huggled several small, dark brown bags.  
  
"Duo, it's just M&Ms..." I said. He just looked at me funny and ran off into the woods. "Where's he going?"  
  
"Probably to eat his candy in silence and isolation," Wu Fei commented as he stretched. "You know how he gets when he has sugar."  
  
"Hey, Quatre. Come help me with this tent," Trowa yelled.  
  
"Sure thing." I turned to help him set the tent up.  
  
*****  
  
A couple of hours later, we had finished setting up the tents. Heero had built us a decent fire in the fire pit, and Wu Fei was fixing us some of his special recipe Chinese. Duo had yet to return from his M&Ms 'Fest.  
  
"Quatre, has Duo come back yet?" Heero asked me.  
  
"Not yet. I'm getting worried."   
  
Wu Fei called from the fire pit. "It's almost ready!"  
  
Heero looked me in the eyes. "I'll tell you what. You and Trowa go look for Duo. Wu Fei and I will stay here in case he comes back on his own."  
  
"Alright, Heero. Will do." I looked around for Trowa. I looked at his tent and saw his tall, lean form silhouetted by the setting sun. I ran to his tent and opened the flap. "Trowa?"  
  
He looked up from his book. "Yes? Oh, it's you, Quatre."  
  
"Trowa? It's so dark in here. How can you read in the dark?"  
  
"I have really good night vision. A flashlight ruins it."  
  
"Oh. Well, Heero says that me and you have to go look for Duo. He hasn't come back yet, and we're getting worried."  
  
"Alright." Without another word he set the book down and came out of the tent.  
  
*****  
  
We walked through many bushes before we came to the creek bed. My clothes were slightly torn from a wild rose bush and brambles dotted my shirt. Way before we emerged from the underbrush, we could hear maniacal giggling. We pushed our way through, and Duo sat at the edge of the creek, a few bags of M&Ms scattered around him. He just sat giggling, and every now and then, he would shove a large handful of M&Ms into his mouth. I mean overflowing full.  
  
"Duo!" I yelled as Trowa and I ran to him. "Where have you been?!"  
  
Duo looked up at me. "KitKat! TroTro! Heyas!"  
  
Trowa fidgeted behind me. "He's on a sugar high."  
  
"And he's not coming down anytime soon." I eyed a rock. "You think if we knocked him out, he would come down sooner?"  
  
"Maybe. It's not like we'll do any damage to his head." I laughed as Trowa picked up the rock. "San, ni, ichi!" And with that, the rock came on Duo's head, but not hard enough to kill him. He lay on the ground, unconscious and with spirals for eyes. Without a word, we picked him up and carried him back to camp.  
  
*****  
  
"But still, it was no reason to hit me in the head with a rock..." Duo whined as he rubbed his sore head.  
  
"I told you Duo, we're sorry, but it had to be done." Trowa piled some chicken lo mein on his fork and stuck it in his mouth.  
  
"Besides, you would have been just a little bit too hard to handle," I said. Duo pushed some rice around on his plate.  
  
"I still have a headache though." Wu Fei laughed at him.  
  
"Need some aspirin, Duo?" He gave Wu Fei a Heero Yuy Death Glare(TM).  
  
"I'm fine, Wu Fei. No aspirin is needed." He laughed.  
  
"Hn. Looks like you're finally back to your old self, Duo," Heero said smugly.  
  
"Heh. Yeah, I guess so."  
  
*****  
  
That night, I couldn't get to sleep. Sure, out in the wilderness, you'd think that the forest sounds would help. But I couldn't fall asleep. I got up, climbed over Duo's sleeping form, and went outside.   
  
The moon was full. It seemed so close. Like I could just reach up and touch it. I reached up, but to no prevail. I let my arm down.   
  
Something rustled behind me, but I dismissed it as a forest animal. Then, something grabbed my neck and clamped a hand over my mouth. Something, cold and hard hit me on the head, and I fell unconscious.  
  
  
[1] This actually happened. I was playing with my brother's Furby Baby and I dropped it on accident. The thing just wouldn't shut up!  
  
[2] Ha! Cup of tea...::QnM is too happy with herself for making that up:: Get it? Quatre drinks tea! ^^  
  
[3] This is Jaganshi Hiei's image song. Hiei is from an anime I really like called Yu Yu Hakusho, or Poltergeist Report.  
  
Part 3 coming soon! Oooh, I can't stand the suspense! (((_^ 


	3. Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun Part 3

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 3  
  
Note: I first started writing this at 5:50 AM on a Monday morning (but the day after my birthday! ^^), so you can't blame me for making mistakes or dull jokes. -Ionia Metallium-Greywers  
  
Warning: Mild hinting of yaoi. (3+4)  
  
I opened my eyes, but quickly shut them again. There was a bright light right above my head. I cautiously opened my eyes this time. The light wasn't so bright if I took my time. I glanced around at last, taking in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a small prison-like cell. There were 2 cots on the east and west walls, and a window too high up on the wall for a kid my size to reach. From the looks of it, it was still dark out there.  
  
The door to the cell opened suddenly. A small boy came in, holding a food container. I stared at him in shock. His clothes were ragged and torn, his hair long, uncut, matted, and dirty, and his shoes were full of holes and ready to fall apart at the slightest breeze. How could they treat someone this way?!  
  
"Master said I should bring you some food..." the boy said shyly. He thrust the container out at me, and I took it.  
  
"Who's your master?" I asked the boy.  
  
"I'm sorry. I cannot say." The boy spoke with a slight accent...English, was it?  
  
"Hm. I see." I crouched down to the boy's level. "What's your name?"  
  
"My name is Gillian," he said quietly. From the way he was acting, it made me think that his "Master" had beaten him for talking.  
  
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Gillian. My name is Quatre. Quatre Raberba Winner." He looked up at me.  
  
"I know who you are. That's why you're here."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I heard my Master talking about it. He said he was going to kidnap a blond, rich boy called Quatre Raberba Winner."  
  
"But why?"  
  
Gillian shrugged. "For money, I suppose. Possibly even to kill you." At that, I felt the color drain from my face.  
  
"But my friends...are they ok?"  
  
"That I cannot assure you." He looked outside, where the moon was really large in the sky. He spoke with such large words for a boy who only looked about 7. "It's most likely he didn't kill them. They held no importance to him." In the light from the moon, I realized how pale Gillian was. Then I realized that after he had entered, there was a drastic change in lighting. The overhead light, which was so bright before, now was nearly gone compared to the moonlight flooding down from the window.  
  
"Um, Gillian?" He looked at me. "Why are you so pale?"  
  
"Oh, this." He motioned to his skin. "My Master made me this way."  
  
"He never lets you go outside?"  
  
"He used to, before he changed me." A deep growl came from somewhere deep in the castle--or wherever we were--and Gillian went running. "I'm sorry, Quatre! I have made my Master angry by talking to you! I'll come back later!" And with that, the door shut, and the lights went bright again.  
  
*****  
  
A scream followed by frantic yelling was the first sound out of the little camp. The first to rush out was Heero, gun in hand. He didnt even budge when he saw Duo running in circles, screaming something illegible. But Trowa came out next, and tried to calm Duo down.  
  
Trowa walked towards him. "Calm down, Duo!" Duo kept running in circles. "If you don't stop right now, I'll let Heero shoot you." He motioned to Heero, who was standing behind him.  
  
"I will too, Duo. You know I will."  
  
This got Duo to stop. That was when Trowa saw the piece of paper he was holding. "Duo, what is that?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, this." He held up the paper. "This was on Quatre's sleeping bag."  
  
"And Quatre?"  
  
"Gone."  
  
"Gone?"  
  
"Yeah. No trace of him." He handed the note to Trowa. Trowa read it, then clenched his fist around it so tight it almost could have caught on fire.  
  
"What is it?" a tired-looking Wu Fei said as his head popped out of his tent.  
  
"Quatre's been kidnapped..."  
  
*****  
  
I sat up on the floor, where I must have fallen asleep last night after I ate the dinner Gillian brought me. I looked to the window. Daytime. I thought it would never come.  
  
I heard strange noises coming from outside. I got up on the one chair in the room and stood on my tiptoes to see outside. I couldn't see much, but I could hear it all.  
  
"There they are! Grab them!" Crash. Thud.   
  
Then, a very familiar voice said, "Get in there and find Quatre! I'll take care of these guys!" It was Wu Fei! Had they come to rescue me?! I hopped off the chair and stood at the door, trying to see out into the hallway through the keyhole. I could hear distant footsteps coming down the hall. Two people, it sounded like. And they were running. At first I thought dead sure it was Duo and Trowa, or someone. But as they ran by, I saw that they were nothing but soldiers.  
  
I sat back down on the wall, my feet sticking out in front of me. It was then that I felt the pain in my leg. It was a pain like you'd get if someone stabbed you. I looked at my leg, and there it was. Stuck into my right leg was a small butterfly knife. I hadn't even known it until now. All I knew was that it hurt like hell.  
  
"Are you ok?" I looked up from my bleeding leg. Gillian!  
  
"Gillian...you're here! But how...?" I looked to the locked door, which was not open.  
  
"I have my ways." He smiled. "Looks like you're in pain."  
  
I winced. "Yeah."  
  
"I'm sorry. I did that to you, of my Master's bidding."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
He looked to the floor. "My Master ordered me to kill you. I didn't wish to kill you immediately, so I stuck a poison-tipped knife in your leg. It will take longer for the poison to take action, and it is a mild poison, but if it is not treated soon, you will surely die."  
  
I looked at him, and noticed slashes on the boy's arms. "What happened to you?!"  
  
"Master got mad when I said I didn't want to kill you, so he beat me with a spiked flail." He looked to the ground, tears welling in his eyes.  
  
All this over me...? I coughed, and blood came from my mouth.   
  
"The poison is taking effect," Gillian said. "I just hope for your sake that your friends find you soon. This is a large fortress, and my Master roams at nighttime."  
  
"How close is it to dark?"  
  
"About an hour." The red-orange color of the setting sun came through the window, making our shadows dance on the wall. "I will try to find your friends and lead them to you." Then, Gillian suddenly disappeared, and left me with my mouth gaping.  
  
I coughed up some more blood. "Trowa...please hurry..." I then fell unconscious.  
  
*****  
  
I woke up to someone shaking me. "Quatre! Please, wake up Quatre!"  
  
"...Huh...?" I said as I opened my eyes slowly.  
  
"Thank god!" the voice said. I couldn't see clearly enought to tell who it was because it was so dark, but the voice and the familiar musky scent gave me a clue.  
  
"T...Trowa...?"  
  
"Oh, god, Quatre! You're ok!" Trowa's arms encircled me and pulled me towards him. I blushed unconsciously. When he pulled back, I was still blushing. That was when I coughed up some more blood. "Quatre! Are you ok?! What did they do to you?!" He growled a bit.  
  
"Nothing much, really," I choked out.  
  
"They must have done something to you. You just coughed up blood." He looked me over, and spotted the knife. "Hold still." He slowly pulled it out, and I winced.  
  
Blood welled out of the cut. Trowa stared at it, then proceeded to smell the blade. "They put poison on this. Not a very strong or quick acting poison, though." He looked to me. "How long have you had this stuck in your leg?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe since last night, around 4 or 5?" I suggested.  
  
"If we don't get this treated soon, you are going to die." Where did I hear that before? Trowa picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. He opened the door I thought was locked and walked out into the hall.  
  
"Trowa? Hey, Trowa! Where'd you go? If you come out, I'll promise not to call you TroTro anymore!" Duo's voice rang through the halls. He turned the corner running at full speed. He came to a stop when he saw us. "Trowa! Hey, and Quatre too!"   
  
"Quatre is poisoned, Duo. We have to get him out of here!"  
  
"Sure thing!" Duo said confidently. He and Trowa ran down the hall.  
  
"Trowa...thank you..." I whispered, then nodded off.  
  
*****  
  
I awoke in a clearing a few hours later staring up at the stars. I had a warm, wet cloth on my forehead. A fire flickered beside me, and I could hear voices. Male voices. It took some effort, but I finally turned my head long enough to see who they were. On a log on one side of the fire sat Heero and Duo. Wu Fei sat on the opposite log. Trowa was kneeling beside me, staring into my face.  
  
"Hey, it looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," Wu Fei muttered.  
  
"Welcome back to the realm of consciousness, Quatre." He smiled.  
  
I smiled back. Then I coughed up more blood. Trowa stood up.  
  
"I know of a remedy for this poison. I will go look for it in the forest. I'll be back later." He ran into the forest and disappeared.  
  
Duo sat next to me. "Are you hungry, Quatre?"  
  
"Yeah. Sure." I smiled at him.  
  
"Alright." He picked up a bowl of soup and carefully propped me up on a log. "Here you go!" He stuck the spoon full of soup into my mouth.  
  
"I can only hope Trowa gets back soon," Heero said. "If not, we might lose one of our best members."  
  
I smiled, and let Duo continue feeding me soup.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
  



	4. Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun Part 4

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 4  
  
Note: Ionia wrote this while eating Frosted Flakes, which gives her a major sugar high. Meaning...HYPER! ^^  
  
Warning: No more hinting of yaoi, as in the last part. This actually has kissing in it. (Mild yaoi: (1,2 Hinting)(3+4) Oh, I hate doing that to Quatre! Maybe I've read too much fanfiction for my own good...(((_^)  
  
My eyes fluttered open. Someone was calling my name, but I could hardly see anything.  
  
"Quatre...thank God you're still here." It was Trowa, from how the voice sounded. "I found the antidote for the poison. The problem is, it has to be ground up, and I don't think you are up to chewing yet. You're still weak."  
  
I smiled, then coughed. I could almost hear Trowa's face sink with concern. "Quatre, I'm going to chew it in my mouth, then I'll push it into your mouth and you swallow." I remember this. I saw something like it on the Discovery Channel. The mom chewed up the food, then put it in the baby's mouth.  
  
I heard Trowa stick the leaves in his mouth. Moments later, I felt warm breath on my face, and Trowa's lips touched mine.  
  
Now, if my temperature had been taken then, I think it would have read at least 130 degrees. I blushed -very- hard, but then I felt the chewed up leaves enter my mouth. I did as Trowa instructed, and swallowed. The leaves tasted very bitter.  
  
"There. It should take effect soon. In the meantime, why don't you get some sleep?"  
  
I smiled. "I will." He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned around.   
  
"There's something you want to say, isn't there?"  
  
I blushed. "Well...uh...um..."  
  
Trowa smiled. "It's ok. You don't have to tell me. I already know." Then, he went back to his tent. I wondered, did he think that I wanted to say thank you, or did he know...?   
  
*****  
  
I woke up the next morning to yelling. I peeked out of the tent, and Duo ram by me. Heero was chasing him, yelling, "Omae o korusu!" I looked closer, and saw that Heero had white make-up all over his face. I couldn't help but laugh.  
  
From the fire pit, I heard talking. Wu Fei and Trowa were over there making breakfast. I climbed out of my tent. Somehow, I felt stronger than I had last night. I looked at my leg, and there were no dressings on it. When I pulled my pant leg up, there wasn't anything there. Not even a scar.  
  
I walked to the fire pit. Wu Fei looked up from...whatever he was making. "Well, so you're awake. And walking yet!" He looked at Trowa. "When did you get the antidote?"  
  
"Last night." He took a sip of his tea. Wu Fei just shrugged and continued with breakfast. I sat on the log, next to Trowa. He looked at me. "Feeling any better?"  
  
"Yeah. I feel great!" He smiled.  
  
"The plants on this planet can work wonders, can't they?"  
  
"Yeah! No kidding!" Then it hit me. Did he say "this planet"?   
  
"I meant that all the plants on Earth have healing properties. Just some more than others." Wow! He read my mind! Either that or he had just read my expression. We sat in silence until Wu Fei got breakfast ready.  
  
*****  
  
"Itai..." Duo groaned as he rubbed his head. While being chased by Heero, he had hit his head on a low tree branch.  
  
"Serves you right." It's been a long time since I heard Heero laugh, I mean -really- laugh, but he laughed right then. His eyes lit up, then he grabbed Duo and ran off. Duo looked back at all of us, pretty pleased with himself. (Oh God, I never meant this to turn into a yaoi fic! Oh well. At least I don't -think- it will be in explicit detail. ^^)  
  
"Oh," Wu Fei muttered. "A Horny Yuy." [1]  
  
I laughed, then continued eating some of the soup Wu Fei had made for me for breakfast. [2] "It's a wonder how they could do that in the morning," I said.  
  
Trowa and Wu Fei looked at me like I wasn't supposed to say that. "How...how do you know about that...?" Trowa stammered.  
  
I blushed. "Well, I -do- get out of the estate once in a while."  
  
Wu Fei laughed. "I guess we all have our secrets." Then his nose started bleeding.  
  
I looked at Trowa. He was gazing off into the distance. I wonder what he was thinking. In the background, pleasurable moaning noises could be heard from one of the tents. I just hope it wasn't mine. Urp...  
  
*****  
  
Hours later, Heero and Duo emerged from Heero and Trowa's tent, very wet. I just hope that Trowa's book hadn't got wet or damaged. As soon as they got out of the tent, Trowa got back in it. I think he was searching for his book, or maybe something more important.  
  
I walked to the tent and lifted the flap. In the background, I could hear Heero yelling something about "no phone lines in the forest" and "Where the hell is my satellite connection unit?!" I peered into the tent.  
  
"Trowa? What are you looking for?"  
  
Trowa turned suddenly. Like he hadn't even heard me come in. "Oh, Quatre. It's you."  
  
"Um, yeah. It's me." I looked confused. "What are you looking for?"  
  
Silence. "My book."  
  
"That's what I thought. What does the book look like?"  
  
"Didn't you see it when you came to tell me we had to go look for Duo?"  
  
"Yeah, but I forget."  
  
He sighed. "It's big, thick, and has a red leather cover. Will you help me?"  
  
"Sure!" I got into the tent and started looking through stuff. I pulled some tank tops (guess who's) off the top of a pile, and found the book we were looking for. I looked at the title. "Midnight Nocturne?" I said aloud, and not meaning to.  
  
Trowa grabbed the book from my hands. "Uh...you mustn't read this book, Quatre. I don't think you would understand the story very much."  
  
"Oh." I looked down. "Trowa, I--"  
  
He placed his hand over my mouth. "No, Quatre. You don't have to say anything."  
  
I put my two hands around the one he placed on my mouth and took it off. My eyes teared up. "Trowa..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
I looked up, on the verge of crying. "Trowa...I'm so glad to be back with you!" I hugged him, without realizing what I was doing. And he was -very- cold for someone who wore a turtleneck shirt all year.  
  
"I'm glad you're back too." He stroked my hair as I cried into his shirt. Then I backed up.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Trowa. You have a big wet spot on your shirt now..."  
  
He laughed. "It's ok. I don't mind too much. If it were someone other than you, I would mind, though."  
  
I sniffled. "Thank you, Trowa."  
  
*****  
  
  
That night, I couldn't get to sleep. Just the previous night, I had had no problems falling asleep. Possibly an after-effect of the poison. But tonight...  
  
I climbed out of my tent, remembering what happened last time I got up in the middle of the night. I looked around before proceeding anywhere.  
  
When I finally got done surveying for trespassers, enemies, possible threats, etc., I proceeded to Heero and Trowa's tent. I opened the flap a little just to peek at Trowa. But the only person I saw in there was Heero, and he was sleeping with a loaded gun. Better not wake him up to see where Trowa went, I thought.   
  
I wandered out into the clearing in the middle of our tents. The moon was nearly half gone tonight. I hadn't payed any attention, but I had been gone fore a while. As I looked at the moon, it reminded me of the shape of Trowa's mask.   
  
A hand touched my shoulder, and I turned my head. Trowa stood behind me. "The moon is pretty tonight, ne?"  
  
"Hai," I responded, looking back at it. "I was gone for awhile, wasn't I?"  
  
"For almost a week, yes."  
  
"It didn't seem like it." I shivered. Why was Trowa's hand so cold?  
  
Silence. "Quatre, can I show you something?"  
  
"Um, sure..." I said back, not really knowing what to expect.  
  
"Good. Follow me." He turned and started walking to the woods. I followed.  
  
We went a little way into the woods, then went off the path. I started to get worried when nothing looked familiar. "Um...Trowa...?"  
  
"It's ok, Quatre. We'll be there soon."  
  
He kept walking, so I kept following in fear of being lost or left behind. Soon, we entered a small clearing with a small pond in it. "Sit here," he ordered, pointing to the place next to the pond. I sat where he told me to sit, and he sat across from me.   
  
"What's this all about?" I asked.  
  
He was silent for a moment. "Quatre...do you love me?"  
  
I blushed. REALLY hard. I looked like a giant clothed cherry. "Um...I...well...yeah...I guess I do..."  
  
He smiled. "That's what I thought." He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head. "Quatre...you and I are...well, different."  
  
"Yeah," I said, having recovered from the blush but nearly ready to do it again. "Everyone is different from other people."  
  
"No," he said. "I mean -different-." He put emphasis on the "different" this time. "Quatre...I'm a vampire."  
  
"What?" God, I must have looked like a tourist gawking at the Tokyo Tower.  
  
"A vampire," he said again.   
  
"Ah, so that would explain the Midnight Nocturne, and why you're always up at night. And the reason why you're so pale and thin and...-cold-."  
  
"Yeah." He looked at the ground like he was ashamed of it. "Um, Quatre?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I brought you here to ask you a question."  
  
"And what is the question?"  
  
"Well...how would you like to be with me forever?"  
  
Forever. That word hit me like a paper fan. "Forever?"  
  
"Yes, forever. I can make you like me, and we can live together for the rest of eternity."  
  
Be with Trowa forever? Sure! "Alright. I'll do it."  
  
"Ok. I thought you'd never say." He took me into a hug. While he hugged me, he nibbled on my ear. (Oh God! This is getting out of hand here! )  
Then, he moved down to my neck and I felt sharpness on my neck. As he drank from me, he instructed me to drink from a small cut he had made on his hand. I did as he said, and in no time he had changed me. After he changed me over, he did something to me that I thought I'd never do to someone of the same gender. We had sex. Right there in the woods. I'd hate to say it, but I pretty much liked it.  
  
Back at the camp, a sleeping Wu Fei got a nosebleed.  
  
  
To be continued...  
  
[1] "Horny Yuy"...ah yes! I first heard this from a fanfic entitled "Little Heero's Oatmeal Cookies", a very interesting fic. (Gomen nasai, I can't remember who wrote it! :(  
  
[2] This refers to a very popular Japanese breakfast soup called Daikon Miso Soup. It contains rice, fish or pork, and pieces of a daikon, or a white radish. Yummy! (((_^   
  
  
  
  



	5. Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun Part 5

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 5  
  
Note: Sorry if that last chapter offended you, minna-san! I wasn't really intending to make this a yaoi fic, but I guess it is now...Oh well! (((_^  
  
Warnings: More yaoi hinting (1+2, 3+4)  
  
The next morning, I woke up under a pile of leaves. What had happened? Where was I? Everything from last night slowly came back to me, and suddenly, I shuddered. Was I really a vampire? To see, I put my finger on an eye tooth and put light pressure on the back of it. Sure enough, it got longer and sharper. Then, I got really embarrassed, for I didn't know if I was wearing anything or not. I sat up and looked. I was still wearing my boxers. Thank God. I sighed, then looked around. Where was Trowa? Surely he would have fallen asleep after that too.   
  
Something rustled in the tree above me. Trowa jumped down from a low branch. He was holding something. "I brought you your breakfast." He set a wounded doe on the ground in front of me.   
  
"Are you kidding, Trowa? I can't eat that!" But something inside told me to.  
  
"Quatre, if you don't drink the blood of another living being soon, you will die, and you won't be a full vampire until you do drink."  
  
I edged towards the large injured animal. It's eyes had fear in them. Genuine fear. Could it tell what Trowa and I were?  
  
"Quatre, drink. I don't want to lose you."  
  
"Alright...if you insist..." I put my face down to the quivering animal. I shut my eyes and stuck my fangs into the doe's neck. I felt nothing.  
  
"Try again. You don't always hit a vein your first time." I tried again, and this time, warm liquid came rushing into my mouth. It wasn't a familiar feeling. But it didn't feel foreign either. Like I had done it before. I swallowed it, and I felt a slight churning in my stomach as my insides twisted and shaped themselves to where they could digest blood.  
  
"Are you done?" he asked me. I nodded. "We should get back to camp now."  
  
I noticed Trowa's clothes were back on. "Um...where are my clothes?"  
  
"Over there." He pointed to a log next to the pond. My clothes were draped over it. I quickly took them and pulled them on.  
  
"I'm ready to go now," I told him. We set off back to camp.  
  
*****  
  
As we approached camp, yelling could be heard. Assuming it was just Heero and Duo fighting again, we payed it no mind. But what we saw when we got to camp would have changed our minds had we known what was going on earlier. 5 men were in our camp. 5 -big- men.  
  
Heero and Wu Fei were lying on the ground, unconscious. One of the big men had Duo by the arms, and was threatening to pull him apart. Duo was screaming.  
  
I couldn't stand it anymore. I jumped out of where Trowa and I had been hiding, and, despite Trowa's disapproval, ran towards the camp. I could tell Trowa was following me as I ran, because I could hear his light steps on the dirt.  
  
"Leave Duo alone!" I screamed in rage. I lunged at the big man that held Duo and connected to his arm, clinging on for dear life. The man let Duo go, and Duo fell to the ground.  
  
"Hey, look, guys! It's that blondie," he told his companions. He picked me off his large arm by the back of my shirt and held me in the air that way. "Looks like you'll be coming with us."  
  
"No chance of that!" Trowa's fist connected with the man's jaw, and the man dropped me. I landed hard on the ground below and winced as pain shot through my body. Trowa came over to me. "Are you ok, Quatre?"  
  
"Yes..." I forced out as I painfully stood up. My leg or something hurt badly.   
  
"You're still weak from the transformation. You shouldn't be fighting."  
  
I smiled. "That's my line."  
  
He laughed. "You go take care of Heero, Duo, and Wu Fei, while I take care of these overgrown bastards." He nodded towards the 5 men.  
  
"Alright. Be careful, Trowa!" I called as he ran towards the men. I turned and ran to Duo, who was forcing himself to sit up. "Duo, are you ok?"  
  
He looked at me. "If being in pain means I'm ok, then I'm great." He grimaced. "I think that bastard pulled my arms out of socket."  
  
"Let me see." Duo showed me his arms, and sure enough, they both were pulled out of socket. "Here. I'll push them back in." I grabbed his arm and worked it back into socket, and the other arm followed suit, Duo screaming the whole time.  
  
Duo stood up. "Thanks, Quatre." He looked at my face, then got a confused look on his face. "Are you ok, Quatre? You look pale."  
  
If I could have, I would have blushed. But somehow, it wouldn't happen. "Yes, I'm fine Duo. Come on, we have to help the guys. You get Heero, I'll get Wu Fei."  
  
"Alright!" We ran to the other two boys. Heero got up almost immediately. But Wu Fei...  
  
"Wu Fei! Get up!" I shook the Chinese hard, but he wouldn't open his eyes! "Wu Fei..." I growled. I rolled him over and pinched his nose shut. His eyes popped open, and he sat up gasping. "It's about time."  
  
"Huh?" He looked at me. "Oh, Quatre. It's you. Where's Trowa?"  
  
"Fighting those things." I pointed in the direction where Trowa was. It appeared he was winning over them. He already had 3 of the 5 down for the count, but the last two looked like they were just playing with him. Presently, they had him in the air, going back and forth between the two of them.  
  
"Dammit!" Wu Fei punched the ground. "We're not gonna win against those guys! If only we had our Mobile suits with us!"  
  
"I know." I looked to he ground. How were we ever going to beat these guys...?  
  
*****  
  
Way up in the clouds, Quatre no Miko, a blue-haired girl with pointed ears, sat on a cloud, surrounded by Quatre plushies, printouts from her computer that wasted at least $60 worth of ink cartridges, not counting color cartridges, and small action figures and Gundam models. Her hair was put up into buns on the side of her head (a la Dota from Bakuretsu Hunters). She grinned. "Kit Kat, I'll help you out!"  
  
*****  
  
"Alright, we need a plan," Heero said in his monotone voice.  
  
"We can always ambush them," Wu Fei suggested.  
  
"Or we can dump ice cream on them!" Duo exclaimed. We all looked at him and sweatdropped.  
  
"Well, whatever we're gonna do, we have to do it fast. They're making a play toy out of Trowa!" I clenched my fist. Why won't you let me fight, Trowa? I'm not weak. I--  
  
My thoughts were interrupted by a small shriek of happiness from Wu Fei. I looked up, and our mobile suits were looming over us. "What the...? how did they get here?!"  
  
Duo grinned. "Someone up there likes us!"  
  
*****  
  
Quatre no Miko grinned from her home in the sky. "I like Quatre most, though!"  
  
*****  
  
After the whole incident, we all sat around the campfire, eating Rice Krispies out of makeshift Styrofoam bowls. [1] Trowa and I barely even touched it, though, because even though we could digest food if necessary, we needed blood to survive. Heero took note of this.  
  
"Trowa, Quatre, you're not eating. Is something wrong?" Heero asked in monotone.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Heero," Trowa responded, equally monotone.  
  
Duo grinned. "Can I have your Rice Krispies, Quatre?"  
  
I smiled. "Sure, Duo." I handed them to him.  
  
"But you two don't look so good," Wu Fei observed.  
  
"We're ok," Trowa said.  
  
"Sure?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ok." We let the subject drop there.  
  
*****  
  
Sometime later that night, we were all gathered around the campfire again, but we were trying to make a plan to ambush the king guy who had kidnapped me.  
  
"We could storm the castle like they did in all those old movies!" Duo exclaimed.  
  
"Nah."  
  
"Why not, Hee-kun?"  
  
"It won't work. You saw the security. We only got by them last time thanks to my snipering skills."  
  
"I didn't know you had snipering skills."  
  
"Now you know."  
  
I sighed. "I don't care what we do, you guys, but we have to go back to town to restock our supplies."  
  
"He's right." Trowa stood up. "We have to restock our ammunition, and possibly our food supply also." He looked at Duo, who hid behind a rock.  
  
*****  
  
Duo and I walked down the street towards the convenience store on the corner. Duo hadn't said a word until he looked me over. "Quatre, I still think you're pale."  
  
"Yeah." I hung my head. What was his obsession with this?  
  
He grinned suddenly, that evil glint coming into his eye. Oh no. "I think you need a tan!"  
  
"And how am I going to do that? Florida is halfway across the world." He smirked and pointed across the street to a tanning salon. "Oh, no. Nonononono." Since I had been turned into a vampire, I had developed a fear of bright lights. I didn't know what a tanning bed would do to me. Nonetheless, Duo dragged me unwillingly across the street and into the salon.  
  
As soon as we entered the place full of hair spray, facial masks, and tanning beds, Duo yelled, "One tan, please!"  
  
A woman in a pink robe scurried over to us. "One tan, coming up! Which one of you is getting the tan?" Duo pointed to me. The woman handed me a pair of sunglasses and took my arm. "Oh, dear. You need it, honey!" I didn't like the way she said that.  
  
Duo trailed along behind us as the woman dragged me to a large machine that looked like an Iron Lung from those Looney Tunes cartoons. Only this one had bright blue fluorescent lights all over it.  
  
The woman looked at me. "Strip down."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Strip down. At least to your boxers."  
  
"Ok..." I stripped down, trying my hardest to blush since I couldn't do it naturally anymore. Once I was down to my boxers, the woman picked me up and put me into the tanning bed. I winced as the light touched my bare skin. It burned a little.  
  
"Alright! I'm gonna shut this lid and turn up the dial to where it will only take you a half hour to tan!" She smiled, and that was the last thing I saw before the fluorescent lights closed her out. I suddenly felt the lights getting brighter. I put on the sunglasses, but it didn't help any. I couldn't help it. The light burned me so much. So I screamed. As loud as I could, just to get someone to let me out of this thing.  
  
The lid lifted, but I was still screaming. It still burned. Someone picked me up from the tanning bed and laid me on the floor, where I was still screaming, but not as loudly. I heard Trowa's voice.  
  
"Duo, why would you do such a thing?!"  
  
Silence. "Well, I thought that he needed a tan, because he was so pale...and--"  
  
"His skin is very light sensitive! You could have killed him!"  
  
"But I thought--"  
  
"You thought what?! That you'd kill him because if you killed everyone off, one by one, you could get revenge for your family?!"  
  
As my vision began to come back, I saw a black blur run towards the front of the store. "D...Duo..."  
  
"Let him go, Quatre." Trowa looked down into my face. "Are you alright?" Stupid question. Take a look at my skin!  
  
"N...no..." Trowa looked at my skin. My whole chest was nearly charred.  
  
"Quatre, I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."  
  
"It's...ok." Trowa looked at the woman, who was standing there, staring, in shock.  
  
"Hey! you! Get me some ointment or something!" The woman scurried off. He looked back at me. "Quatre, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."  
  
  
  
[1] I eat my cereal in a Styrofoam bowl every morning, and it's usually Rice Krispies. (((_^  



	6. Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun Part 6

Ai Shiteru, Quatre-kun  
Part 6  
  
I lied on my sleeping bag--the softest sleeping bag in the campsite--while Trowa bandaged my bare chest and back. Someone, presumably Heero, stood outside the tent, chewing Duo out.   
  
"I thought you knew Quatre had fair skin!"  
  
"I did, but I didn't know it was -that- fair!"  
  
Trowa sighed and continued bandaging my chest and back. He had already done my legs, with help from Heero and Wu Fei holding me down, because I was still in pain and I was writhing around too much to stay still enough for Trowa to apply the bandages.   
  
If there is anyone I care about more, it's Trowa.  
  
Well, maybe my father. Or my sisters.  
  
Hmm...  
  
*****  
I sat near the fire, nothing on the upper half of my body except the bandages. Hey, the cool night air felt good on my burns. Only logical to soothe your wounds best as possible. Right.  
  
Trowa looked at me. "You feeling alright, Quatre?"  
  
I smiled. "Yeah, I feel a little better." Totally fake. I was still in pain. It felt worse than sunburn.   
  
"That's good," Heero commented. He shot a glare at Duo, who cowered behind a rock.  
  
I winced as a small gust of wind hit a sore area of my back. Trowa glanced to me and shot me a sympathetic half-smile that no one but me could see.  
  
Heero got up and walked to the rock Duo was hiding behind. "We all know you're back there. You can come out now, Duo," he joked. Heero, joking? This is an event to mark in the calendar. Duo crawled out from behind the rock. "Now, didn't you have something to say to Quatre?"  
  
"Ano..." Duo stood up and walked to me. "Quatre, gomen nasai." He bowed. Wow. Heero's Japanese customs must be rubbing off. Either that or Wu Fei's Chinese customs. Either one would work.  
  
"It's alright, Duo. It was an honest mistake." I smiled at him, and he returned to his rock, completely satisfied. He had seemed to had gotten over what Trowa said to him at the tanning salon pretty quickly as well.  
  
Trowa turned to me. "Quatre, why don't you get some sleep? It'll help your wounds heal faster." /Yeah,/ I thought. /Just look at Heero. He was on the brink of death, but after sleeping for a month, he recovered./  
  
"Alright." Trowa helped me up and walked with me to my tent. Duo had recently switched places with Trowa so Trowa could stay with me. Duo was sharing Heero's tent now.  
  
Trowa helped me lie down. He leaned down to my ear. "Are you hungry?" he whispered.  
  
"Hungry?" I whispered back. Then I remembered what I was, and my veins began to scream out at me. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"Alright. I'll go hunt something down after everyone else goes to sleep." He lied down on the sleeping bag next to me. I soon fell asleep.  
  
*****  
  
"Quatre? Hey, Quatre." Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes just a little, and I could see Trowa's face above my own.   
  
"Trowa?" I sat up. "What is it?"  
  
"I got us some dinner. Follow me." He opened the tent flap, and a chill came over me. I grabbed a dark-colored sweater and pulled it over my head, then followed him.  
  
Trowa led me into the woods, but not as far as the first time. He led me to a dark form lying on the ground that appeared to be bound by the wrists and ankles. I could make out little details about the form, like that it was wearing clothes. "Ano...Trowa?"  
  
He looked at me. "Quatre, you'll never be able to develop your powers correctly if you don't have human blood. Just, please...do this for me."  
He hung his head.  
  
God, how could I resist that face? "Oh, alright." I sighed and walked over to the form, who was unconscious. By his uniform, he appeared to be an OZ soldier. "Hey, how'd you manage to salvage this guy?"  
  
He laughed. "He was patroling nearby. I'm assuming there's an OZ camp somewhere around here."  
  
"Oh great, that's all we need." I kneeled down to the man. "Sorry," I whispered. [1] Then I let my fangs grow out and I pierced his neck.  
  
"Oi, is that you, Quatre and Trowa?" Oh no. That voice...it sounded like...Oh no...it wasn't...it couldn't be...  
  
"Quatre, hurry and drag him into the underbrush, then get yourself in there as well." He made a shooing motion, then spun around. "Oh, hello, Duo."  
  
Damn. It /was/ Duo after all. I drug the soldier into the bushes nearby, then went to get under cover as well, when Duo blurted it out. "Oi, Trowa? Why is Quatre hiding in the bushes?"  
  
Dammit! I climbed out and stood up. Trowa was shaking his head no, and was frantically trying to tell me not to come out, and that he would create a distraction or an excuse or something. Too late. "Ano...ni hao, Duo."  
  
Duo stared at me for a few minutes. /What? do I have something on my face?...Oh God./ I dabbed around my mouth, and sure enough, there was blood on it.  
  
"Ne, Quatre, you ok?" Duo asked, looking completely clueless. I sighed in just a bit of relief, and smiled.  
  
"Hai, I'm alright, Duo."   
  
Duo stretched. "Well, I'm going back to camp now. You guys take care!" He turned around and ran.  
  
Trowa turned to me. "Quatre, I'm really sorry about this morning. You're lucky I was right across the street from that tanning salon."  
  
I smiled. "Trowa, that's the fifth time you've apologized to me. Don't worry about it."  
  
He put his hands on my shoulders and drew me close to him. We stood that way for a few minutes, then he pulled back. "Quatre...I have something for you."  
  
"For me?" Yay! A present.  
  
"Yeah." He pulled out a small box and in it was a silver ring with a deep blue stone inset in it. "This will protect you from bright light, so if Duo tries to pull the tanning salon stunt again, you won't get hurt."  
  
I took it and put it on. "Thank you, Trowa."  
  
"No problem." His lips quirked. "Now, we should be getting back to the camp."  
  
"Hai." Then we began the short walk back.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, we all sat around the fire, Wu Fei in a lotus position, everyone else on logs, eating breakfast. [2] It had been unusually quiet, since Duo always talked during, breakfast, dinner, anything. But today, he didn't say one word during breakfast. He's a strange boy.  
  
"Duo, you're so quiet today," Wu Fei commented. "Are you sick?"  
  
"Nah. Just thinkin'." He shoved a spoonful of Frosted Flakes in his mouth.  
  
"About what?" I piped in.  
  
Duo looked at me. "Like maybe what you and Trowa were doing last night in the woods?"  
  
I blushed. Hey, wait a minute...I blushed! Naturally! Wow. I don't have to try anymore. "Um...well...we were just--"  
  
"Taking a walk," Trowa cutted in.   
  
"Yeah, we were taking a walk." I eyed Duo suspiciously. "What were /you/ doing in the woods?"  
  
Now it was Duo's turn to blush. "Well...I had to go to the bathroom /really/ bad..." Everyone started laughing.  
  
Heero popped into the conversation, ruining the little moment of comedy. "We have to get back to figuring out what we're gonna do about Quatre's kidnappers."  
  
Duo yawned and stood up. "Let's just forget the whole thing, ok? I don't really think there is much of anything we can do against them."  
  
Trowa glared at him. "Yeah, but will you be saying that when Quatre gets kidnapped again?"  
  
Duo blushed. "Um..." He slumped back down on his rock.  
  
"But really, if you guys are gonna take a course of action, you better be hurrying up about it," I said. "The moon's nearly full, and they might come for me again. That's when they came for me before, remember?"  
  
Everyone sat in silence for a while, thinking. Then Trowa stood up. "How about this? We could all stay up on the night of the full moon and make sure no one outside of our camp gets near Quatre. Then, once we have fended off their henchmen, we can go to the castle and get rid of the threat."  
  
"It might be a good idea, Trowa, but school is gonna restart soon. We've already been out here a week longer than we planned. We should be heading back," Heero muttered.  
  
"Yeah. We should be heading back. Tomorrow, probably." Wu Fei crossed his arms. "They shouldn't be able to follow us there."  
  
"You're right. And if they do, we'll get rid of 'em, ne, Quatre?" Duo poked me in the side.  
  
I just stared off into space.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, we all began to pack up our belongings. Duo was kissing goodbye to the tree he had spent many a night in. That was his punishment for tormenting Heero. I laughed as an acorn fell on his head. "Looks like your tree loves you back, Duo!" I called. I expected him to glare at me, but he laughed as well.  
  
Trowa put a hand on my shoulder. "Looks like your feeling better. You're cracking jokes now." He smiled at me as I looked up at him.  
  
"Yeah, I am feeling better..." I trailed off. Trowa looked concerned.  
  
"Is something bothering you, Quatre?"  
  
I looked at the ground. "Well, actually--"  
  
"WHERE'S MY BACKPACK?!?! MAXWELL!!!"  
  
I laughed. "Sounds like Wu Fei is mad at Duo again." I looked over to Duo and saw him going through a small green backpack that strangely looked like the one Misty carries around in Pokemon. He was pulling out all sorts of things out of the tiny bag: a Chinese cook book; several different packets of flavored green tea; revealing pictures of Zechs and Treize; a special issue of OZzies Magazine that covered OZ generals and lieutenants, and had some pretty revealing photos, too; several PokeBalls; a stuffed Pikachu...I pretty much looked away about then. Too disturbing...  
  
Trowa looked away from the madness as well. "So, what were you about to tell me?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, that..." I looked towards the woods. "It's a little too private to discuss out here...let's go for a walk, ok?"  
  
Trowa looked down at me. "Sure. Ok." He turned to Heero. "Heero, we're going for one last walk in the woods. We'll be back soon." Heero just grunted and continued packing up the van.  
  
*****  
  
"Oi, Quatre? I think we've went far enough. What was it you wanted to tell me?"  
  
I stopped and turned around, letting go of Trowa's hand. "Well...um...I..."  
  
"You what? What are you trying to say?"  
  
I looked up at him, tears almost coming to my eyes. "Trowa...I don't wan't to be a vampire anymore. It scares me, and I've been having nightmares and seeing things and my father appears to me from time to time..." I started gasping for breath and I sank to my knees.  
  
"Quatre!" Trowa knelt beside me. "Quatre, daijoubu ka?"  
  
"Aa..." I managed inbetween gasps. "Dai...joubu..."  
  
"You're hyperventilating. Try to calm down." He hugged me to his chest, and I heard the rhythmatic beating of his heart. It was very soothing, and soon I calmed down to where I was breathing normally.  
  
He pushed me away from him gently. "Are you alright now?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." I looked down to the ground. "Is there any way you can change me back?"  
  
Trowa thought for a moment. "There...is a way..." he said thoughtfully as he tapped his index finger on his bottom lip.  
  
"Please, Trowa! By any means possible, turn me back again..."  
  
Trowa turned to me. "Any means possible?"  
  
I looked at him quizzically. "Yes...why do you ask?"  
  
"The only means of turning you back that I have is this little pill here." He held up a red capsule that looked kind of like a Tylenol or something. "It will change you back, but your insides will be rearranged again, only it will hurt like all hell, unlike when I changed you. Are you sure you're up to it?"  
  
I slowly nodded. "Yes, Trowa. My decision last time was hastily made, and I payed for that by these visions I'm having. This decision is well thought out."  
  
"Very well, then." Trowa handed me the pill. "I will go with you to the creek. You need to take that with water."  
  
"Alright."  
  



End file.
